Game Notes: Mar. 18 at Los Angeles Kings

The Winnipeg Jets begin a three-game road trip tonight when they visit the Los Angeles Kings…The Jets have won back-to-back games after beating the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Saturday night at Bell MTS Place…Winnipeg continues the road trip Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks before wrapping up against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.

Earliest Jets Could
Clinch a Playoff Spot: Mar. 21 at Vegas Golden KnightsIf the Playoffs Started Today…: The
Jets (1st in the Central) would have home ice against the Dallas
Stars (1st in Wild Card) in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Close Ones
Winnipeg’s past three games have been decided by one goal, including their past
two wins…The Jets are 17-6-4 in one-goal games this season, which is the fourth
most wins in the NHL…Last season the Jets were 22-4-10 in one-goal games.

On the Road
Winnipeg is 18-16-0 on the road this season and play seven of their last 11 games
in the regular season on the road…The Jets haven’t won back-to-back road games
in 2019 and their past eight road games have alternated between a win and a
loss…Winnipeg hasn’t lost three consecutive road games in regulation since Dec.
10-20/16…Winnipeg is 3-for-10 on the power play in their past three road games
and are 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in their past two road games…The Jets have
scored 23 goals in their past six road games, but have been held to two goals
or less in three of the six games…Blake Wheeler leads the Jets in scoring on
the road this season with 37 points (10G, 27A) in 34 games…Patrik Laine leads
the Jets with 19 goals on the road.

Party in the Pacific
The Jets are 13-5-2 against Pacific Division opponents this season and have won
eight of their past 12 games against the Pacific Division…Winnipeg is in a
stretch of five of six games against Pacific Division teams…Winnipeg was a
dominant 17-4-2 against Pacific Division foes last season and are on an 23-6-4
run in their last 33 games versus the Pacific…Blake Wheeler (5G, 16A) leads the
Jets in scoring against the Pacific Division this season with 21 points in 20
games…Goaltender Laurent Brossoit is 3-2 with a 1.89 goals-against average and
.946 save percentage in five games against Pacific Division teams this
season.

Offensive March
The Jets have scored 31 goals in March, which is tied for the NHL lead…Winnipeg
has four goals or more in five of their eight games this month…Eighteen of the
19 skaters that have played for the Jets this month have at least a point, led
by Blake Wheeler’s 13 points (8G, 5A)…Thirteen different Jets players have
scored this month…Mark Scheifele is averaging better than a point per game with
10 points (3G, 7A).

Springing Ahead
March and April have historically been successful months for the Jets, as the
team has gone 82-54-15 in those two months since relocation…During the past
three seasons, the Jets are 32-11-2 in March and April, including a perfect
8-0-0 in April…Blake Wheeler is the franchise’s leading scorer in March with 120
points (47G, 73A) in 126 games…Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is 16-7-2 during
his career in March with a 2.72 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.

Wheels Keep Turning

Blake Wheeler had an assist on Saturday to extend his point streak
to three games (1G, 3A)…He has a point in 53 of his 71 games this season…With 87
points (20G, 67A), Wheeler is guaranteed to have better than a point per game
this season for the second consecutive season…He has 67 assists this season,
which is second in the NHL, and needs one assist to match the 68 assists he had
last season, which was one shy of Marc Savard’s franchise record of 69 assists
in a season…Wheeler has scored 20 goals or more in six consecutive season…During
the past four seasons, Wheeler’s 235 assists are second most in the NHL.

Goal Leader
Mark Scheifele had a goal on Saturday to have goals in back-to-back games…Scheifele
has 34 goals of this season, which is a career high…Scheifele has 79 points (34G,
45A) this season, which is three points away from matching his career high of
82 points during the 2016-17 season.

Late Production
Mark Scheifele scored in the final minute of the first period on Saturday…It
was his 11th goal in the last five minutes of a period or overtime,
which is tied with Patrik Laine for the team lead…Blake Wheeler, who had an
assist on Scheifele’s goal, is third in the NHL this season with 36 points
(10G, 26A) in the last five minutes of a period or overtime, while Scheifele is
tied for seventh in the NHL with 32 points (11G, 21A).

Winning TenderGoaltender Connor Hellebuyck won his 30th game of the season on
Saturday…After posting 44 wins last season, Hellebuyck is the only goaltender
in franchise history to reach 30 wins in multiple seasons…Since entering the
NHL, Hellebuyck’s 113 wins are ninth in the NHL.